Metrics are measures that are used to evaluate and track the performance of a facility’s process safety management program. For facilities that handle highly hazardous chemicals, metrics can be used to quantify how a process has performed historically, how it might perform in the future, and where improvements can be made to keep workers safe.
This document provides employers with examples of metrics that are tracked by facilities that are enrolled in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). Because VPP sites have achieved a high standard of safety excellence, tracking these metrics can make a positive contribution to the effectiveness of an employer’s process safety management program. Two types of metrics—lagging metrics and leading metrics—are often used to track safety performance in process safety management: